Trial Begins In Officers’ Murders, 911 Tape Played

Allegheny County 911 dispatcher Shannon Basa-Sabol was the first witness Monday in the trial of a man accused of murdering three Pittsburgh (Penn.) police officers in 2009. She has been criticized for not relaying information to the radio dispatcher that there were guns in the house, and is the subject of two civil lawsuits for her handling of a 911 call. Richard Poplawski is accused of fatally shooting Officers Eric Kelly, Stephen Mayhle and Paul Sciullo II when they entered his home in response to a phone call from his mother, who had dialed 911. During that phone call, Margaret Poplawski said her son was drunk the night before and she wanted him removed from the house. Basa-Soblo asked, “Does he have any weapons or anything?” and Margaret Poplawski said, “Yes, but they’re all legal.” Basa-Soblo then responds, “OK, but he’s not threatening you or anything?” Poplawski says, “He’s just waking up from sleep. I want him gone.” Basa-Soblo testified she then typed “No weapons” into the computer-aided dispatch (CAD) record and entered it for dispatch. She explained because she’d been trained to note “No weapons” when none were involved and no one was being threatened. Other first-day witnesses included neighbors who saw what occurred and dialed 911. Basa-Soblo was part-time at the 911 center when the incident occurred but received re-training and now works full-time. Read more about the trial here, and listen to the mother’s 911 call here.